Smerdon has served as Vice Dean of Academic Planning since January 2026, a role in which he oversees the facilitation and design of all degree programs within the Climate School. Having held multiple leadership roles in the Climate School since its founding in 2020, Smerdon played a central role in designing and implementing two new groundbreaking masters programs and several associated certificate and dual degree programs. From 2011-2023, Smerdon also co-directed the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development (now the Office of Undergraduate Programs), a program that more than doubled in size during his tenure (reaching approximately 200 enrolled students), and one in which he led the design and implementation of a new minor and collaborative major in Climate and Sustainability. He teaches courses on climate, environmental change, quantitative methods, and sustainable development to undergraduates and graduate students.
Smerdon also lectures widely in public and private settings on the subject of climate variability and change, and on the social dimensions of such work. He also is regularly interviewed for print and broadcast media (see the News and Events page for a regularly updated list of media-related content). Smerdon can be contacted directly for speaking and media inquiries, or through Climate School press office.
